Algirdas Paleckis

His grandfather was Justas Paleckis, a journalist and a foreign correspondent in 1930s who later became a communist and the speaker of the Supreme Soviet of Lithuanian SSR following the Soviet annexation.

Algirdas Paleckis (born 20 May 1971) is a Lithuanian diplomat, politician, columnist, leader of the political movement The Dawn of Justice.

Šiauliai district court convicted Paleckis for spying for Russia in July 2021.

The conviction was upheld by the Lithuanian Court of Appeal in May 2022.

Algirdas Paleckis was born on 20 May 1971, in Bern, Switzerland, the son of Soviet diplomat Justas Vincas Paleckis.

He stated that "it appears that in January 1991 our own people were shooting at their natives".

He also alleged that these snipers were placed there by the Lithuanian government of the time to generate nationalist sympathy.

In 1994, Paleckis graduated from Vilnius University with a master's degree in journalism and international relations.

From 1997 to 2001, Paleckis was the 1st secretary at Lithuania's Permanent Mission to the EU in Brussels, becoming head of the West European Division at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania in 2001, a post in which he remained until 2003.

From 15 November 2004, to 17 April 2007, he was a member of the Lithuanian Parliament.

Later, Paleckis was an assemblyman of the Council of Europe from 24 January 2005 to 5 May 2007 and worked as a Vice-Mayor of Vilnius from 2007 to 2008.

On 15 March 2005, Paleckis worried that democracy was failing in Russia, stating, "Russia during this period lost its way a little because of the track and was a little tempted by authoritarian rule. They must be returned before it is too late."

In 2008 he founded the Front Party and was its leader until November 2014.

He is fluent in Lithuanian, English, French, Russian and German.

In 2011, Lithuanian authorities prosecuted Paleckis for his alleged denial of Soviet aggression against Lithuania.

As part of his journalistic research, Paleckis claimed he had found several witnesses and ballistic assessments that seemed to indicate that there were Lithuanian government snipers on the roof near the Vilnius TV centre who were shooting civilians with hunting rifles during the January Events.

A Vilnius court vindicated Paleckis in January 2012, but the prosecution appealed and Paleckis was sentenced to a fine of 10,400 litas (€3,100) on 12 June 2012.

He left the party in 2016, citing differences with party leadership.

He was arrested again in 2018 on suspicion of spying for Russia.

Paleckis is critical of Lithuanian capitalism, writing in 2018, "they promised us Sweden, but the banana republic came out. I will add: only instead of dictators - clowns."

As of March 2020, he had been jailed without conviction (or start of legal proceedings) for more than 500 days.

The Lithuanian authorities argued against granting bail on the grounds that Paleckis had lived in Moscow, had connections there and could flee from the country.

Paleckis was released on supervision in April 2020.

On 27 July 2021, Šiauliai district court found Paleckis guilty and sentenced him to six years in prison.

The conviction was upheld by the Lithuanian Court of Appeal on 6 May 2022.

Paleckis is no longer affiliated with any political party.

He was last a member of the Socialist People's Front, a democratic socialist political party.

It was formed from a merger of the Lithuanian Socialist Party and his Front Party.